Timepiece



Aug. 8, 1944.

J. FLETCHER 2,355,429

TIMEPIECE Filed Feb. 15, 1943 2 Shets-Sheet l J 'IGJ.

//vv5./Y7 011 W Jams 'FLHC E 1944- I J. FLETCHER 2,355,429

TIMEPIECE Filed Feb. 15, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //V1/E .N OE, James FL E TCHE e,

Patented Aug. 8, 1944 UNITED STATES PATIENT'OFFICE Application February 15, 1943, Serial No. 475,957 In Great Britain March 3, 1942 7 Claims.

This invention relates to clocks, watches and other timepieces, and has for its object to pro vide same with time-indicating means which is changed at regular intervals, the actual time at the moment of change and the progress of time between such intervals being visible through openings in the front or face of said timepiece.

According to the invention there is provided a timepiece having time-indicating means comprising a periodically-changed minutes disc rotatably mounted about the axis of the minute shaft of said timepiece, a series of numerals depicted on the face of said disc and arranged in a circumferential row, a trip-catch device comprising means rotated by the minute shaft of the 3 time piece and coacting with abutments provided on the body of the timepiece for periodically imparting rotational jumping movements to the disc, a periodically-changed hours disc having numerals representing hours depicted thereon in a circumferential row, provision for rotatably advancing said hours disc one step by each complete revolution of the periodically-changed minutes disc, a continuously moving indicator rotated by the minute shaft and indicating over i f a scale the progress of time between the movements of operation of the periodically-changed minutes disc, a face member disposed in front of the said discs and indicator, and openings in said face member for observation of the numbers depicted on the minutes and hours discs respectively and the continuously moving indicator and associated scale.

In a preferred arrangement the hours disc also rotates about the axis of the minute shaft of the timepiece and is of smaller diameter than the minutes disc and is rotatably advanced periodically by the engagement of a pin provided on the minutes disc, with a toothed driving wheel coupled to the said hours disc.

The trip catch device may be of any convenient form such as will impart the required rotational jumping movements to the minutes disc. In a convenient arrangement such device comprises a bush fixed to the minute shaft to rotate therewith, a lever fulcrumed on an associated part of said bush about a point which is spaced away from the axis of the minute shaft, said lever having its outer end pivotally attached to the minutes disc, a series of studs arranged in a circular row concentric with the minute shaft axis and projecting from the front of the body of the timepiece and a loading spring for the lever, the arrangement being such that when the fulcrum point of the lever reaches a predetermined position by rotation of the bush, the lever will trip over one of the fixed studs and will jump forward by the action of the spring to contact with the next stud, the latter retaining the lever, with resultant loading of the spring as the bush rotates, until the lever fulcrum point has reached a position for further trip movement of the lever.

A clock embodying a preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the clock with the face member'removed,

Figure 2 is a sectional plan of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the trip-catch device,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side view of the outer portion of the trip-catch lever and one of the fixed pins which coact therewith,

Figures 5, 6 and '7 are face views of the minutes disc,'indicator disc and hours disc respectively,

Figure 8 is a front view of the clock with the face member in position, and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary front of the clock in the region of the opening provided for observation of the minutes disc, showing a modifled way of providing a scale for the indicator disc.

Referring tothe drawings, reference l0 indicates the body ormovement of the clock provided with a front plate I'I. Reference I2 indicates the usual minute shaft to which, in a conventional clock, the minute hand is secured.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated there is secured to the minute shaft l2 a boss I 3 (Figure 3) provided with angularly spaced radial arms I 4, 15. A lever It is fulcrumed intermediate its length on the arm I 4, the fulcrum point l1 therefor being spaced from the axis of the minute spindle l2, and also a short distance from one end of the lever to produce a short arm l8 of the lever to which short arm is connected one end of a tension spring IS, the other end of said spring being anchored to the radial arm l5. As shown in Figure 4, the long arm of the lever I6 is stepped near its outer end to form a forwardly-displaced L-shaped portion 20.

Studs 2| equidistantly spaced in a circular row which is concentricwith the axis of the minute shaft l2, project from the front plate H and are adapted to coact with the long arm of the lever IS in the manner hereinafter described.

A minutes disc 22 is rotatably mounted on the minute spindle |2 so that the latter is free to rotate therein. Said minutes disc 22 is coupled to the L-shaped portion 20 of lever l6 by means of a pin 23 rovided on said lever portion 20 and engaging into a radial slot 24 in the disc (Figures l and The said minutes disc, which is operated to periodically jump forward as later described, has depicted upon the front face thereof a series of numbers as shown which are adapted to come into displayed position successively by consecutive movements of said disc, and which indicate the number of minutes past the hour at the moment of operation.

In front of the disc 22 is situated an indicator disc 25 of smaller diameter fixed to the minute shaft l2 and having a series of equally spaced pointers 26 at its periphery which are adapted to come into view successively and which travel over.

a scale 21 depicted on disc 22.

In front of the indicator disc 25 there is situated an hours disc 28 which is of still less diameter. The numbers shown indicate the hours of the day and are displayed in succession by the said disc receiving rotational displacement in the manner later described. Said hours disc 28 is fixed to a bush 29 which is rotatable on the minute shaft |2. Also fixed to bush 29 are a gear wheel 38 and a dividing wheel 3|, the number of indents in the latter corresponding to the number of figures depicted on disc 28.

A bridge piece or bracket 32 extending diametrally across the discs and which is attached to the front plate provides a mounting for a rotatable gear wheel 33 which meshes with the aforesaid gear wheel 30, and in front of said gear wheel 33 and solid therewith is a toothed operating wheel 34. A pin 35 projecting from the front of the minutes disc 22 is adapted to engage the teeth of the operating wheel 34 in succession, thus taking place once in each revolution of the disc 22. The bridge piece 32 is also provided with a pivotal mounting for a pawl 36 upon which presses a spring 31 also provided on said bridge piece 32, thereby to urge a tooth 38 on pawl 31 into engagement with the indents of the dividing wheel 3| in succession.

The casing of the clock is provided with a face plate 39 in which are formed openings 40, 4| through which can be observed the figures depicted on the minutes disc 22 and hours disc 28 respectively, the openings" also disclosing a portion of the indicator disc 25 and the associated scale 21 on disc 22.

In the modification shown in Figure 9 a scale strip 42 is fixed on the back of the face plate 39 and serves instead of a scale 21 on disc 22 to indicate the progress of the pointers 26 on the indicator disc 25.

A hand knob is situated externally of the clock and having its stem 44 passing through a centre opening in the face plate 38, provides for independent setting of the hours disc 28. said stem 44 being fixed to or formed integral with the bush 29 of said disc 28.

Assuming that the gear wheels 30, 33 have an equal number of teeth, then the number of teeth on the operating Wheel 34 will correspond to the number of figures depicted on the hours disc 28. However it will be appreciated that if so desired the pin 35 of disc 22 may be arranged to impart a predetermined greater rotational movement to the wheels 33, 34 provided that the gears 38, 33 provide the necessary step-down ratio to ensure the correct extent of rotational movement of the hours disc 28. This may apply for instance if there are 24 figures depicted on the disc 28 instead of 12, for indicating 24 hours or so-called Continental time.

Dealing now with the operation of the mechanism, the lever arm I6 bears against one of the studs 2|, due to the effort of spring l9, and during the continuous turning of spindle l2 the displacement of fulcrum pin results in the said lever arm sliding down the appropriate stud 2|. The retention of the lever arm and simultaneous turning of bush I3 results in the spring H! becoming loaded to an increasing extent. Eventually the step portion of the L-shaped end part 20 of the lever will clear the said stud and in consequence the lever I6 will jump forward to contact with the next stud. Thus the lever IS with its extension 20 provides in conjunction with the studs 2| a trip-catch device. As the lever I6 is coupled to the minutes disc 22 by the pin and slot device 23, 24 it imparts a sudden rotational movement to said disc each time it jumps forward. The extent of this movement is such that the next figure depicted on disc 22 is brought into the centre of the opening 40, the previously exhibited figure passing out of view. At the moment of such change-over, one of the pointers 26 of the indicator disc 25 is at the extreme righthand side of the opening 40 and the previously exhibited pointer is just passing out of view at the left-hand side. Since the indicator disc 25 rotates continuously with the minute shaft, the exhibited pointer 26 will travel over the exhibited portion of scale 21 to indicate the progress of time in minutes between the moments of operation of disc 22. Once in each revolution of disc 22, that is to say when same jumps forward to exhibit the figure 0, the pin 35 engages a tooth of the operating wheel 34 and turns same through part of a revolution. Through the meshing gears 33, 30 this imparts (in the exam ple shown) one-twelfth of a revolution to the hours disc 28. Consequently a fresh figure depicted on disc 28 is brought into view through opening 4| to denote the next hour of the day; this change-over is sudden by reason of the movement being produced by the sudden jump forward of disc 22.

The engagement of the tooth 38 of pawl 35 in one of the indents of the dividing wheel 3|, retains the hours disc 28 in each of its set positions. When disc 28 is advanced as above explained the tooth 38 rides out of one indent and drops into the next one, ensuring accurate positioning of disc 28.

By turning knob 43 the hours disc 28 can be reset to show any desired figure thereon, without affecting the disc 22. To change the position of disc 22 the usual knob provided on the minute shaft l2 and accessible at the back of the clock, is turned.

As shown in Figure 3, the bush l3, fixed to the minute shaft |2 may be provided with a radial pointer 45. This pointer is not for display, but is for checking the working of the mechanism. That is to say by observing the location of the pointer with respect to studs 2| at the moments of trip-over of lever |6 it is possible to check up on such moments of operation. As a modification of the construction shown, the face plate 39 may be formed with three observation openings instead of two, one of these showing continual minutes-registering progress of the indicator disc 25 instead of same being viewed through the opening 40.

The invention is applicable not only to timepieces driven by clockwork mechanism, but also to those which are electrically driven. Further it is pointed out that although the invention is primarily applicable to a timepiece for indicating the time of day by hours and minutes, it can also be applied to one for indicating other time periods of long and relatively short dura tion and continual progress between the short periods, such as may be required in particular cases.

I claim:

1. In a timepiece for indicating visually successive periods of time and fractions of saidperiods of time periodically, a main driving shaft, three discs one of which is driven by and in unison with said shaft, and the other two of which are driven intermittently, a lost motion device transmitting from said shaft intermittent rotational movement to one of said intermittently driven discs, a further lost motion device transmitting from said latter disc once each complete rotation thereof a, partial rotation representing a unit of time to the other intermittently driven disc, a means additional to said rotation imparting mechanism automatically locating aid latter disc in accurate indicating position at the completion of each movement of such latter disc, the arrangement being that the disc driven in unison with said shaft indicates the progress of time between each movement of both of the intermittently driven discs, and one of the intermittently driven discs indicates successively periodically a complete sequence of fractions of said unit of time between each said partial rotation, insignia appropriate to said progress, fractions and units of time being marked on said discs, a face member screening said discs, and openings in said face member to display distinctively the appropriate insignia.

2. A timepiece for indicating visually successive periods of time and fractions of said periods of time periodically, comprising a prime mover, a minute shaft driven by said prime movena disc with a concentric set of minute graduations mounted loosely concentrically upon said shaft, a set of equidistantly spaced fixed abutments disposed concentrically about said shaft, a spring loaded abutment carried by said shaft connected to said disc to apply traction thereto and adapted to engage said fixed abutments successively and to be traversed by rotation of the shaft along each abutment to provide idle periods in the movement of the said disc, a periodically changed hours disc having numerals represented as a concentric set thereon, a lost motion devicetransmitting from the minutes disc and once each complete revolution thereof a partial movement representing a change of one hour to said hours disc, a device additional to the aforesaid mechanism automaticallylocating said hours disc in accurate time indicating position at the completion of each movement of the hours disc, a third disc driven from and in unison with the said shaft a scale cooperating with said latter disc for indicating the progress of time between the moments of operation of the periodically moved minutes disc, a face member disposed in front of the said discs, and openings in said face member to expose singly the appropriate numbers on the hours and minutes discs and a portion of the other disc and its associated scale.

3. A timepiece for indicating visually successive periods of time and fractions of said periods of time periodically, comprising a prime mover,

a minute shaft driven by said prime mover, a disc with a concentric set ofminute graduations mounted loosely concentrically upon said shaft, a set of equi-distantly spaced fixed abutments disposed concentrically about said shaft, a spring loaded abutment carried by said shaft connected to said disc to apply traction thereto and adapted to engage said fixed abutments successively and to be traversed by rotation of the shaft along each abutment to provideidle periodsin the movement of the said disc, a periodically changed hours disc having numerals .represented as a concentric set thereon, a pin on the minutes disc, a driven wheel with equidistantly spaced abutments successively engaged by said pin and 0peratively connected to said hours disc whereby the hours disc is partially rotated about its axis a distance representing one hour once every revolution of the minutes disc, a spring loaded abutment, a memberhavinga set of equidistant spaced recesses disposed concentrically about said axis and fixed in-relation to said hours disc, said recesses successively receiving said abutment to locate the hours disc accurately at the completion of each hourly movement thereof, third disc driven from and in'unison with the said shaft, a scale cooperating'with said latter disc for indicating the progress of time between the moments of operation of the periodically moved min utes disc, a face member disposed in front of the said discs, and openings in said face member to expose singly the appropriate numbers on the hours and minutes discs and a portion of the other disc and its associated scale.

4. In a timepiece for indicating visually suc cessive periods of time and fractions of sa d periods of time periodically, a main driving shaft, three discs one of which is driven by and. in. unison with said shaft, and the other two of which are driven intermittently, a lost motion dev ce transmitting from said shaft intermittent rotational movement to one of said intermittently driven discs, a further lost motion device transmitting from said latter disc once each complete rotation thereof a partial rotation representing a unit of time to the other intermittently driven disc, a means additional to said rotation imparting mechanism automaticallylocating said latter disc in accurate indicating position at the completion of each movement of such latter disc, the arrangement being that the disc driven unison with said shaft indicates the progress of time between each movement of both of the intermit tently driven discs, and one of the intermittently driven discs indicates successively periodically a complete sequence of fractions of said unit of time between each said'partial rotation, insignia appropriate to said progress fractions. and units of timebeing marked-on said discs, face member screening said discs, and openingsin said face member to display distinctively the appro-' priate insignia, said lost motion device transmitting intermittent rotation from said shaft to one of said discs comprising a bush fixed to the minute shaft to rotate therewith, a lever fulcrumed on an associated part of said bush about a, point which is spaced away from the axis of the minute shaft, said lever having its outer end pivotally attached to the minutes disc, a series of fixed studs arranged in a circular row concentric with the minute shaft axis, and a loading spring for the lever, the arrangement being such that when the fulcrum point of the lever reaches a predetermined position by rotation of the bush,

the lever will trip over one of the fixed studs and will jump forward by the action of the spring to contact with the next stud, the latter retaining the lever, with resultant loading of the spring as the bush rotates, until the lever fulcrum point has reached a position for further trip movement of the lever.

5. A time piece for indicating visually successive periods of time and fractions of said periods of time periodically, comprising a prime mover,

a minute shaft driven by said prime mover, a disc with a concentric set of minute graduations mounted loosely upon said shaft, a set of equidistantly spaced fixed abutments disposed concentrically about said shaft, a spring loaded abutment carried by said shaft connected to said disc to apply traction thereto and adapted to engage said fixed abutments successively and to be traversed by rotation of the shaft along each abutment to provide idle periods in the movement of the said disc, a periodically changed hours disc having numerals represented as a concentric set thereon, a member with a notched periphery in fixed concentric relationship with said hours disc,

a spring loaded pawl riding against said notched periphery to locate said hours disc in accurate time indicating position, a lost motion device transmitting from the minutes disc and once each complete revolution thereof, a partial movement representing a change of one hour to said hours disc, a third disc driven from and in unison with the said shaft, a scale cooperating with said latter disc for indicating the progress of time between the moments of operation of the periodically moved minutes disc, a face member disposed in front of the said discs, and openings in said face member to expose singly the appropriate numbers on the hours and minutes discs and a portion of the other disc and its associated scale, said third or progress of time disc having pointers at equi-distantly spaced intervals on its periphery and successively traversing said scale where it is exposed through the appropriate openings.

6. A timepiece for indicating visually successive periods of time and fractions of said periods of time periodically, comprising a prime mover, a minute shaft driven by said prime mover, a disc with a concentric set of minute graduations mounted loosely concentrically upon aid shaft, a set of equi-distantl spaced fixed abutments disposed concentrically about said shaft, a spring loaded abutment carried by said shaft connected to said disc to apply traction thereto and adapted to engage said fixed abutments successively and to be traversed by rotation of the shaft along each abutment to provide idle periods in the movement of the said disc, a periodically changed hours disc concentric with said shaft and having numerals represented as a concentric set thereon, a pin on the minutes disc, a driven wheel with equidistantly spaced abutments successively engaged by said pin, a bush loose on said shaft and carry ing said hours disc, gear wheels connecting said driven wheel to said bush whereby the hours disc is moved about its axis a distance representing one hour once every complete revolution of the minutes disc, a dividing wheel fixed on said bush provided with a plurality of equidistantly spaced interstices, a spring loaded pawl successively engaging said interstices for locating the hours disc during its idle periods, a third disc concentric with and driven from and in unison with the said shaft, a scale cooperating with said latter disc for indicatin the progress of time between the moments of operation of the periodically moved minutes disc, a face member disposed in front of the said discs, and openings in said face member to expose singly the appropriate numbers on the hours and minutes discs and a portion of the other disc and its associated scale.

7. A timepiece for indicating visually successive periods of time and fractions of said periods of time periodically, comprising a prime mover, a minute shaft driven by said prime mover, a disc with a concentric set of minute graduations mounted loosely concentrically upon said shaft. a set of equi-distantly spaced fixed abutments disposed concentrically about said shaft, a spring loaded abutment carried by said shaft connected to said disc to apply traction thereto and adapted to engage said fixed abutments successively and to be traversed by rotation of the shaft along each abutment to provide idle periods in the movement of the said disc, a periodically changed hours disc concentric with said shaft having numeral represented as a concentric set thereon, a pin on the minutes disc, a driven wheel with equi-distantly spaced abutments successively engaged by said pin, a bush loose on said shaft and carrying said hours disc, gear wheels connecting said driven wheel to said bush whereby the hours disc is moved about its axis a distance representing one hour every complete revolution of the minutes disc, a dividing wheel fixed on said bush provided with a pluralityof V shaped equidistantly spaced interstices, a spring loaded pawl successivel engaging said interstices for locating the hours disc during its idle periods, a third disc concentric with and driven from and in unison with the said shaft, a scale cooperating with said latter disc for indicating the progress of time between the moments of operation of the periodically moved minutes disc, a face member disposed in front of the said discs, and openings in said face member to expose singly the appropriate numbers on the hours and minutes discs, a portion of the other disc and its associated scale, a co-axial spindle-like extension on said bush passing through said face member and a knob on the front end of said extension for adjllilstizig the hours disc independently of the said s af JAMES FLETCHER. 

